Why the drive: The utilitarian and hedonic benefits of self-expression through consumption

Abstract

In response to a recent call to better understand the drivers of self-expressive consumption; this review examines the latest relevant research to identify two broad classes of benefits of self-expressive consumption. First are utilitarian benefits that result from cognitively-driven self-expressions intended to fulfill a consumer's need to create and maintain a self-identity. Second are hedonic benefits that result from the mere act of self-expression and make the consumption experience more fun and pleasurable. This discussion reflects a recent shift in how researchers conceptualize self-expression, from a behavioral mechanism to a basic human need. Moreover, the review highlights findings on various new forms of self-expressive consumption that now occur in the modern marketplace. This review thus offers insights into the positive elements of self-expressive consumption.

Introduction

Ask a consumer why they bought a particular product and they might say that “it spoke to them”, that it reflects who they are, or that it allows them to express themselves. The idea that self-expression often drives consumer behavior is such an acknowledged aspect of consumer psychology that even non-expert consumers may recognize the psychology behind their actions [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].

And yet, a recent call urges researchers to more clearly conceptualize why we as consumers have such a strong drive to show ourselves and others who we are [9]. This review starts to answer this by examining the latest research to identify two types of benefits of self-expressive consumption. We broadly define self-expression as externalizing or displaying one's unobservable self-identity, including personality traits, preferences, values, beliefs, opinions, or attitudes [1,9,10]. The two classes of benefits we emphasize are those utilitarian benefits that result from cognitively-driven self-expressions intended to fulfill a consumer's need to create and maintain a self-identity, and those hedonic benefits that result from the mere act of self-expression and thus make the consumption experience more fun and pleasurable [1,9,11,12].

By identifying and distinguishing between these categories of benefits, this review enhances our understanding of the positive side of self-expressive consumption in two ways. First, it confirms a recent shift in how consumer researchers conceptualize self-expressive consumption. Traditionally, self-expression had been viewed by researchers as a behavioral mechanism whereby consumers self-express in order to fulfill other basic human needs, especially the need for self-consistency [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. However, more recent findings reveal that people possess their own separate need for self-expression such that, regardless of other needs, people are intrinsically motivated to express themselves [∗11, ∗12, 13, 14, 15, ∗16]. That this review reveals systematic evidence for hedonic benefits, that the mere act of self-expression produces pleasure, supports the notion of this behavior as a basic human need.

Second, this review highlights the expanding understanding of the forms of consumption that may constitute self-expression. Previous research overwhelmingly investigated this phenomenon through a relatively narrow lens of product and brand choice [1,2,4,8,10]. And yet, the range of behaviors available to consumers within the contemporary marketplace extends well beyond these domains to include behaviors such as digital consumption (e.g., social media), product co-creation (e.g., product customization and 3D self-printing), and prosocial behaviors (e.g., responding to donation appeals) [∗16, ∗17, ∗18, 19]. This review highlights recent research examining not just choice of brands and products but also these other forms of consumer behavior.